The Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenkovery close to Moscow He stated on Thursday that his country would be willing to receive “nuclear weapons” if it felt threatened. by Western countries, at a time of tension on the border between Russia and Ukraine.
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“If necessary, if these stupid and pointless steps are taken by our rivals and opponents, we will deploy not only nuclear weapons but supernuclear weapons, promising weaponryin order to defend our territory,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the local press.
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If there are no threats against Belarus there will be no need for nuclear weapons in 100 years
Belaruslike other former Soviet republics, renounced the nuclear weapons deployed on its territory and, under pressure from the United States, agreed to return them to Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Belarusian Constitution provided for the country to be a nuclear-weapon-free zone. But this article was modified in the new version proposed by Lukashenko, which will be submitted to a referendum on February 27.. The new Constitution does not rule out the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarusbordering country with Ukraine and Poland.
Lukashenko will travel to Moscow on Friday to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The Belarusian president, in power since 1994, was re-elected in 2020 in highly criticized elections that provoked massive protests that were harshly repressed. The referendum at the end of February will open the door for him to remain in power until 2035.
Withdrawal of troops from Belarus
As soon as the decision is made, they will be withdrawn within 24 hours […] If we make the decision that it be a month, they will be a month.
Alexander Lukashenko, too he stated that in his meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the withdrawal of Russian soldiers participating in joint military exercises on Belarusian territory, including in the south, bordering Ukraine.
“As we decide tomorrow (Friday 02/18) so it will be,” he stated briefly during the inspection of the “Allied Determination-2022” maneuvers at the Osipovichi training camp, south of Minsk, according to the official Belarusian agency, BELT.
“The Armed Forces will be there for as long as they are necessary. This is our land, our territory,” he said.
The joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus will end on the 20th. The Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday that the meeting between the two leaders will take place in Moscow and that the two leaders will later give statements.
He also said that there is no need to create Russian military bases in Belarusbut it will ask Russia to create a training center for the development of Russian short-range Iskander missiles.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei assured on Wednesday that, once the joint exercises with Russia are completed on Sunday, “not one soldier and not one piece of military equipment” will remain on Belarusian territory.
In his opinion, the two countries are carrying out the joint exercises because NATO has strengthened its presence near the borders of both countries, including recently in neighboring Poland and Lithuania. He also maintained that the maneuvers do not violate any international agreement or document.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said some 30,000 soldiers, fighters, Iskander missiles and S-400 air defense systems are taking part in the exercises, which he called the “largest” military deployment in Belarus since the Cold War.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING*With information from EFE and AFP
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